The sun was burning overhead by the time Canada had run out of breath. He fell against the side of the nearest building. With his hands on his knees, he stared at the ground as he let the sweat pour down his face. Silently, he cursed his brother's name once more. He forced himself to focus on how angry he was at America, if only to forget how humiliating it was when Taiwan looked at him like that.

"Pathetic," he panted. "I'll never be cool enough to beat America... to impress Taiwan... to even get noticed... or remembered... by anyone!"

Canada sniffed. A few teardrops joined the sweat that ran down his face. He let himself collapse against the side of the building and he stared up at the callous blue sky. After some indeterminate amount of time, Canada noticed the sign above the door. It would seem that the building he had fallen against was a bar, and now seemed like as good a time as any to have a drink. Canada wandered indoors. His ears were instantly assaulted by the screeching rumble of two very drunk nations.

"De-e-e-e-en!"

"Wha'd'ja wan'?"

"Wanna see me do a trick?"

An unintelligible exchange occurred between the two nations. One of them, Canada recognized as Denmark. He was wearing his usual uniform, although the hat had fallen off somewhere and his axe was - thankfully - nowhere to be seen. The other nation was someone Canada had never met before. This nation had white-blond hair and red eyes; Canada did a double take to be sure. Could it be? This nation, his sharp blue uniform now disheveled, might very well be -

"The former nation of Prussia?"

Canada had spoken aloud without realizing it. Prussia's ears perked up at the mention of his own name. He glared at Canada with the aimless glassy stare that one can only do when severely inebriated. Muttering an apology, Canada began to back away.

"Former?" said Prussia. "Who are you calling 'former"?"

"Oh, um... I'm really sorry if I offended- "

"Den!"

Just like that, Prussia's attention flew from Canada to Denmark. Denmark grunted in response.

"Wanna see me do the trick?"

"Only if you're buying," Denmark replied.

"No fair."

"What do you mean, 'no fair'? I got the last round."

"It's not a round," Prussia argued. "There's only two of us. And I need beer to do this trick, and you know I'm broke."

Canada stepped forward.

"I'll buy you a beer, Prussia."

Instantly, a grin spread across Prussia's face. He staggered over toward Canada and patted him on the back.

"You know, Denmark? I really like this guy!"

Canada beamed, even though deep down he knew it was only the offer of free beer that had garnered Prussia's approval. As Canada dropped his money in the bartender's hand, Prussia retrieved a recently emptied beer stein from where he had been seated.

"Watch this... What's-yer-name..."

"I'm Canadia - I mean... Canada."

Prussia nodded and smiled. "Right. Canada. Cool."

Backing towards the bar, Prussia held the empty beer stein out in front of him. With his free hand, he patted at the air behind him, to get a sense of where the bar stool was. Canada watched as Prussia pulled himself up to sit on top of the bar. After slipping a few times, Prussia steadied himself atop his perch and leaned back.

Denmark stood beside Canada and assured him that whatever they were about to see would be cool. So far, all it looked like was Prussia sitting around with an empty stein poised over his head. The bartender arrived with a fresh stein of beer. He handed it to Prussia and muttered a warning about behaving himself this time. Looking back at the other nations, Prussia winked. Canada couldn't help but smile in earnest at the notion of Prussia winking directly at him. It was so nice to be noticed.

At that moment, Prussia leaned further back and held the full stein above the empty one, which in turn he held about his head. He tipped his head back, opened his mouth, and poured the beer from the full stein into the empty one. As soon as this was done, Prussia held out his hand and accepted yet another beer from the bartender. He poured this one in the same fashion, causing the stein to overflow into his mouth. When both steins were drained, Prussia tipped himself back up to a sitting position, and then slid from atop the bar. Shiny leather boots hit the ground, and Prussia flung himself forward into a sloppy bow.

"Ta daaa!"

"That was... interesting," Canada said politely.

"I call it the double-beer waterfall," Prussia said, smirking in self-satisfaction. "I can keep that going for probably eight beers. Maybe ten. But I'm a little short on cash now."

Prussia looked up, looking Canada directly in the eye. "Maybe we'll try it with ten beers another time, eh, Canada?"

A gleeful smile spread across Canada's face. At long last, someone had remembered his name. Even in his drunken state, Prussia had said it correctly - and not only that, but he was using Canada's name to invite him somewhere. Poor Canada wasn't used to be included, or even remembered, and he hardly knew how to respond.

"That's... so... " Canada was at a loss for words.

"So awesome?" Prussia said. He leaned back against the bar and signalled for the bartender to get him yet another beer. "Well, what did you expect from The Awesome Me?"

Canada beamed, letting the glittery feeling of genuine happiness wash over him. He was getting attention from another nation - and not just any nation. Prussia was a nation who was legendary for his daring and confidence. What a nation like Prussia would want with a nation like himself, Canada couldn't be sure. In that moment, he didn't care. He saw the opportunity that lay before him and he jumped at the chance.

"Um, Prussia?"

"Yeah, Canada?"

"Could you... could you please teach me how to be awesome?"